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Robocalls: Voting irregularities in Eglinton—Lawrence, say Liberals

There were at least 2,700 applications for late registration to vote in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding that failed to provide addresses or gave false addresses, CBC reports.

Defeated Liberal MP Joe Volpe speaks to reporters in Ottawa on May 11, 2001. Volpe lost his seat in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the May 2 election. (Bruce Campion-Smith / toronto star file photo)

By Richard J. BrennanNational Affairs Writer

Thu., March 8, 2012

The federal Liberals say it is “classic vote fraud” if hundreds of previously unregistered voters were allowed to cast ballots in Eglinton—Lawrence riding during the 2011 federal election without providing proper credentials or information.

“People being permitted to vote without the appropriate ID or address is classic vote fraud. If it happened, it shouldn’t have happened,” Liberal interim leader Bob Rae told the Toronto Star Thursday.

He was responding to allegations that at least 2,700 voters made applications for late registration to vote in Eglinton—Lawrence and that many failed to provide addresses or gave false or non-residential addresses, all of which failed to meet Election Canada rules.

The Conservative Party has been dogged for weeks now with allegations that it was behind so-called robo-calls and other dirty tricks that critics say swung the results in its favour.

Former veteran Liberal MP Joe Volpe lost the riding to Conservative Joe Oliver by 4,062 votes. Oliver was rewarded with a cabinet post, minister of natural resources, for dethroning Volpe.

Volpe declined to comment and referred the Star to his lawyer, Anthony Pascale.

Pascale said he wants Elections Canada to investigate.

“There were an inordinately high number of voters registering who were not on the voters list in order to cast ballots,” Pascale told the CBC.

During a visit to St. John’s Thursday, Oliver told reporters he will cooperate with any Elections Canada probe, adding that he was not aware of any voter registration irregularities and has not been contacted by the government agency’s investigators.

Elections Canada spokesperson John Enright said the agency so far is not investigating alleged irregularities in the riding.

“This is the first I have personally heard of it,” he said.

Enright explained that after an election a number of documents, including spoiled or unused ballots, the poll books as well as registration certificates, are sealed and require a court order to unseal them.

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